TechStat teaches skills that promote good government

The NolaStat report has offered a treatment of the TechStat approach used to manage IT projects in the District of Columbia. Additionally, the use of portfolio managers responsible for monitoring key performance indicators of D.C. projects was a remarkable innovation.
Here’s a review of the federal TechStat process that was published in Government Technology:
Federal CIO’s Techstat… »

Times-Picayune opinion: Better data will build a better city

A NolaStat opinion piece published in The Times-Picayune calls on incoming Mayor Mitch Landrieu to commit to an open government policy on his first day in office.
The city needs to get out of the business of attempting to build flashy applications, and instead focus on making good, timely, reliable data easily available online. Once that… »

New Orleans open government in just one day?

You could be sending 311 complaints to city officials, and receiving 311 updates, using Facebook and Twitter, in just about a day.
All that’s lacking is a mayor willing to make the commitment to this kind of open government. Well, that, and … um … turning the 311 system on again. Actually, there’s more to… »

TechStat: A new way to manage IT projects

President Obama’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra has initiated a new accountability process to reduce waste and manage the success of federal IT projects.
TechStat accountability sessions will inform management decisions with a “data-driven, action-focused and results-oriented” process, evaluating federal IT projects across an array of project metrics to satisfy President Obama’s priorities:

Manage IT investments effectively.
Leverage… »

President Obama harnessing the power of data to create better policy, and higher performing government services

“Whether it’s health care, education or even the war in Afghanistan, the president and his team are big believers in the power of information” (NPR, 1/01/2010).
Okay, so it’s kind of a lame story beginning with pedometers, but cute or novelty is what one can generally expect from NPR. That said, it’s clear that President Obama… »

An engine for increasing the velocity of democracy

It’s an accepted truth that a healthy democracy requires citizens who participate in the civic life of their communities, and who engage with government institutions. But while civic participation is vital for a healthy democracy, it’s an inadequate prescription.
Government institutions also have to effectively engage and respond to citizen concerns, and by extension, government institutions… »

President Obama: A “presumption of openness”

What does President Obama think about government transparency?
The three principles of transparency, participation, and collaboration form the cornerstone of an open government. Transparency promotes accountability by providing the public with information about what the Government is doing. Participation allows members of the public to contribute ideas and expertise so that their government can make policies… »

President Obama uses the new IT dashboard

An image posted on White House CTO Vivek Kundra’s blog shows his boss using the new IT spending… »

IT dashboard halts 45 wasteful Veteran’s Affairs projects

The Department of Veteran’s affairs halted 45 IT projects totaling $200 million in fiscal year 2009 alone, the nation’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra announced on his blog today.
Kundra wrote that one of the projects was 110% over budget and 17 months behind schedule.
The VA will audit the projects in the coming weeks to… »

$70 billion in federal IT spending at a glance

President Obama’s CIO, Vivek Kundra, unveiled a new IT contracting dashboard yesterday at the Personal Democracy Forum conference in New York City.
Project managers and the public alike can now see an instant assessment of how well, or how poorly, $70 billion in federal IT investments are being managed.
The Federal IT Dashboard is an… »